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2019 California firecane season
The 2019 California firecane season is an ongoing event in meteorology. 2019 is the first year that the KOAM Weather Center (KWC) will assign names to firecanes that form or move into its area of responsibility. The center will also issue advisories, however they have stated that firecanes not threatening any populated areas will not have advisories issued on them. The firecane season has no official bounds, but most firecanes tend to form between late spring and early winter. The scope of this article is limited to the state of California. As firecanes are ranked by size (in acres) rather than intensity, a firestorm is named once it is judged to have exceeded a size of 1,000 acres. In order to be classified as a firecane, a firestorm must exceed 10,000 acres in size. A firecane is officially classified as a major firecane once it has reached 40,000 acres in size. Note: The firecanes in this season are concurrent with real-life wildfires in California. This is also not updated real-time, so advisories may be issued at any time. All dates are in UTC. The 2019 firecane season had a very slow start, breaking 2005's record for the latest start to a season. After June, however, activity began to increase. Seasonal forecasts An average season is roughly similar to that of a Pacific typhoon season, with an average of 36 firestorms, 12 firecanes and 4 major firecanes forming in a given year from 2002 to 2018. During an El Niño, the firecane season can be expected to be less active, while during a La Niña, activity is usually increased. For more information about the firecane season, go here. Pre-season outlooks Ahead of the season, forecasting agencies submitted their forecasts for the 2019 season. On November 13, 2018, the Douglas Hurricane Center (DHC) forecast a well-below-average season, with 13 named firestorms, 3 firecanes and 1 major firecane. On December 1, 2018, the KWC forecast a slightly below average firecane season due to the increased likelihood of an El Nino, with 26-32 named firestorms, 6-10 firecanes and 0-2 major firecanes. Mid-season outlooks On May 6, 2019, with the possibility of another destructive firecane season increased due to the abundance of dead trees in California, the KWC forecast a roughly near-average season with 34-38 named firestorms, 10-14 firecanes and 2-6 major firecanes. Season summary Timeline Broken Timeline ImageSize = width:870 height:450 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:225 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/06/2019 till:31/12/2019 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/06/2019 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:FD value:rgb(1,0.6,0.6) legend:Fire_Disturbance_=_<1000_ac_(<405_ha) id:FS value:rgb(0.75,0.5,0.5) legend:Firestorm_=_1000-10000_ac_(405-4047_ha) id:FC value:rgb(0.5,0.4,0.4) legend:Firecane_=_10000-40000_ac_(4047-16187_ha) id:FM value:rgb(0.25,0,0) legend:Major_Firecane_=_>40000_ac_(>16187_ha) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:05/06/2019 till:06/06/2019 color:FS text:Alexis from:08/06/2019 till:15/06/2019 color:FS text:Brianna from:08/06/2019 till:10/06/2019 color:FS text:Carlos from:12/06/2019 till:14/06/2019 color:FS text:Dorothy from:25/06/2019 till:27/06/2019 color:FS text:Earl from:26/06/2019 till:28/06/2019 color:FS text:Francine from:08/07/2019 till:10/07/2019 color:FS text:Gavin bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/06/2019 till:30/06/2019 text:June from:01/07/2019 till:31/07/2019 text:July from:01/08/2019 till:31/08/2019 text:August from:01/09/2019 till:30/09/2019 text:September from:01/10/2019 till:31/10/2019 text:October from:01/11/2019 till:30/11/2019 text:November from:01/12/2019 till:31/12/2019 text:December TextData = pos:(50,25) text:"(From the KOAM Firecane Scale)" New Timeline The 2019 firecane season had the latest start since reliable records began in 2002 with the first named storm forming on June 5, breaking 2005's previous record of June 3. However, towards the beginning of June, above-average precipitation that had persisted for the past several months began to diminish, leading to the formation of 6 firestorms during the month. Despite this, none of them attained firecane intensity. Outlooks & Advisories Advisory Archive Most Recent Outlook CALIFORNIA FIRECANE OUTLOOK KOAM WEATHER CENTER 0900 UTC WED 10 JUL 2019 KEY MESSAGES ------------ NONE ACTIVE CYCLONES --------------- NONE POTENTIAL CYCLONES ------------------ NONE WATCHES AND/OR WARNINGS IN EFFECT --------------------------------- FIRESTORM WATCHES ----------------- NONE FIRESTORM WARNINGS ------------------ NONE FIRECANE WATCHES ---------------- NONE FIRECANE WARNINGS ----------------- NONE Most Recent Advisories No advisories are being issued at this time. Systems Firestorm Alexis A fire disturbance was first reported at 10:49 AM PDT on June 5. It was located on Boulder Creek Trail in California Valley within San Luis Obispo County. At this time, it had a size of 5 acres. By noon, the storm had grown to 100 acres. It further intensified to a size of 1,127 acres and was given the name Alexis. One building was threatened by the storm. However, Alexis was short-lived, being contained not long afterwards on June 6. Firestorm Brianna Brianna originated from a fire disturbance in the Capay Valley near the town of Guinda in Yolo County on June 8. The storm spread rapidly due to high winds and dry weather conditions, intensifying to 1,000 acres within four hours, prompting the KWC to assign it the name Brianna. By the morning of June 10, the storm had grown to 2,200 acres and was 50% contained. On June 11, Brianna grew further to 2,512 acres. Over the next few days, the storm was progressively contained further until June 15, when it finally dissipated. Brianna destroyed seven buildings and caused two non-fatal injuries. Evacuation orders were put in place around the vicinity, but these were lifted by June 10. Firestorm Carlos The precursor to Carlos was first reported at 5:44 PM PDT on June 8 northeast of Colusa in Sutter County. By 8:00 PM PDT, the fire had grown to over 900 acres. On June 10, the storm expanded into the Peace Valley area, growing to a size of 1,300 acres, taking the name Carlos. However, by that evening, the storm was declared fully contained. Firestorm Dorothy On June 12, a fire disturbance near Shandon in San Luis Obispo County rapidly organized, growing to 1,764 acres by the time it was named Dorothy by the KWC. However, it failed to intensify further as it battled unfavorable conditions. On June 14, it finally succumbed to aggressive shear and was fully contained. The storm's proximity to Shandon led to the first ever issuance of a Firestorm Watch by the KWC, but it was discontinued after it was clear that the storm would dissipate and not threaten the town. Firestorm Earl Earl originated from a fire disturbance that grew rapidly east of King City near the border of Monterey County. It grew at a modest rate to 2,546 acres on June 26, surpassing Brianna as the largest storm of the season so far, but unfavorable conditions quickly set in to prevent any further strengthening. It was contained early on June 27. Firestorm Francine Francine formed west of Patterson in Stanislaus County on June 26. Due to its fast growth and proximity to Patterson, a firestorm watch was issued by the KWC, but was discontinued late on June 27 as the storm reached peak intensity. It was contained early on June 28. Firestorm Gavin Gavin formed late on July 8 six miles roughly east of Shandon, San Luis Obispo County. Operationally, the storm was initially assessed as having a peak intensity of 1200 acres, but this was later downgraded to 974 acres below firestorm status. Regardless, Gavin kept its name and peak category. A firestorm watch was briefly issued for Shandon but was discontinued after Gavin's intensity was downgraded. The storm only survived briefly as it was contained early on June 10. Other notable systems Storm naming Beginning in 2019, the KOAM Weather Center will assign names to firestorms with a size exceeding 1,000 acres that either form or move into the California region. All storms that form will be assigned a number followed by a letter, e.g. 01C. As thousands of fire disturbances below firestorm strength form each year, only those that cause a noteworthy amount of damage are included in the season. The KWC uses 4 lists that are rotated each year, as well as two auxiliary lists, which rotate each year, that are used should the original naming list be exhausted. If the first auxiliary list selected for this year is exhausted, the second auxiliary list is used. After that, the Greek alphabet is used. Rarely, like in 2008, when a record-breaking 95 firestorms formed, the Hebrew alphabet will also be used. Below are the main and auxiliary lists selected for 2019. Main List Auxiliary List Season effects This table summarizes all the systems that developed within or moved into the California region during 2019. The table also provides an overview of a system's size, duration, land areas affected and any deaths, injuries or damages associated with the system. 2019 California firecane statistics Category:Firecane seasons Category:Firecanes